


Rewind

by ukiyo (yukisadah)



Category: Gintama
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-04 07:32:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18339047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukisadah/pseuds/ukiyo
Summary: After a sudden late night job, Kagura awakens to find Gintoki gone and a weird kid hiding in their kitchen. Shinpachi comes in to find the two struggling, unable to help but notice how malnourished and afraid the child is. With Gintoki missing, the two decide to take it upon themselves to help the boy out. Along the way, they take on jobs and run into the others here and there.  Just who is this kid? Where is he from? And why does he look so much like Gintoki?





	1. All Adults Want To Become Children Again In Their Hearts

“Thank you so much again, I don’t think I would have been able to get up there to get him by myself,” the green-haired girl smiled, holding her cat close to her chest. Her large equally green eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked up at Gintoki with thankfulness.

Shrugging, the man responded easily, “It’s fine, we were just coming back from another job anyways. Easy enough to find him.”

“Gin-chan, what do you mean? We had to climb up and---” he slapped his hand over the thoughtless yato’s mouth, keeping his smile as he looked at their client.

“Sorry about her, she’s just upset because she’s missing her favorite anime right now,” the samurai was quick to cover, then leaning down to whisper in the girl’s ear, “Idiot, don’t mouth off when the client hasn’t even paid yet or how much money they were going to give,” really, it was business 101.

Shinpachi stepped in, hoping to ease the situation a bit, “It’s okay, really. Like Gin-san said, we had a job earlier we were coming back from. We’re glad we could help you,” and glad to be getting paid. They really could use the money, Otose could only let the rent go so many times before she legitimately needed them to give her something.

“Kids, you know? They just run their mouths off with whatever,” Gintoki waved his hand, sighing, “They have no idea how easy they have it compared to us adults. What I wouldn’t give to be a normal kid again, going to class, playing in clubs, getting hit by a truck and going to another world where I become the destined hero and save everyone with my busty female sidekicks,” he shook his head.

“Uh, exactly what part of that is normal?” Shinpachi asked, eye twitching. 

Biting the hand covering her mouth, the permhead quickly letting go with a yelp, Kagura spoke up, “Yeah right! I bet you did nothing but laze around all day reading jump and eating sweets, yep,” she accused, pointing at the elder male.

Quick to object, the silver-haired man replied, “I didn’t do that! If you knew of the adventures I went on and the lives I saved, you would be on your hands and knees begging for me to teach you the way of the sword! Huh?! Where’s your respect, Shinta?!” 

“This isn’t Rurouni Kenshin!” Shinpachi exclaimed, trying to get between the two, “Can you two calm down, the client is still standing right there!”

Not backing down, Kagura continued, pushing her face against the elder’s now, “I know the truth! You and Zura would just make rice balls all day!” she continued to push. 

“Huh? How do you even know about that?! Did he tell you? Did he tell you about me and Mei-chan too?!” 

    The client give a giggle at their antics as she watched them argue, becoming more and more nonsensical as they continued. Looking to Shinpachi, she smiled again, “Your coworkers seem like a lot of fun. I don’t have any money on me right now, but I can give you something,” she offered, holding out her hand. 

    “Hm? What is it?” Gintoki seemed to have snapped out of his argument at the mention of money, immediately coming over.

    Grasping his hand in her own, she held it gently, closing her eyes for a moment, “I can do this,” she smiled, seeming to concentrate for a moment. After a moment of nothing happening, she let go, continuing to smile. 

    A bit weirded out, Gintoki rubbed the back of his head, “Uh, look. You’re welcome, but I don’t really need another stalker, the one I have is more than enough as it is,” he spoke apologetically.

    The girl only gave another laugh in reply, now taking a step back, “You’ll see. Thank you once again,” she bowed the cat still in her grasp. Before any of them could speak another word, she had walked off in the opposite direction, green hair swaying.

    “...Well, that was weird,” Shinpachi noted, watching the girl’s back.

    Before Gintoki could reply, Kagura spoke up, exhaustion obvious in her features now that she was no longer arguing with their boss, “Can we go home now, Gin-chan? I’m tired…”

    For a moment, the male stood with an odd expression on his face, a slight frown, “Childhood, huh…” he spoke quietly.

    “Huh?” the brunette by his side asked, looking up at the other with something akin to worry. It was unusual for the elder to wear such a serious expression outside of battle.

    Turning, he waved his hand, walking back towards home, “Yeah, let’s go Kagura, Shinpachi. Geeze, a day of fighting idiots and catching a cat for a handshake and twenty-thousand yen, don’t they know Gin-san needs to catch his show,” he shook his head.

    “It was your show?!”

 

A sense of unease was what awoke the young yato. Sitting up in her futon, Kagura stared straight ahead at the opposite wall in the closet for a moment. She could feel it, something off about her surroundings. Usually by now she would hear Gin-chan up and about, blasting Ketsuno Ana’s morning weather report or whatever he decided to listen to while getting ready. He hadn’t told her they had anything planned to do early this morning, but still, he was usually up by now. It was weird how quiet it was. 

For a moment, she merely sat and listened, alert for any sort of sound. Hearing nothing, the ginger began to relax, thinking she had just overreacted. So what if Gin-chan was choosing to laze around in bed longer than usual today? It wasn’t like it was completely unheard of for him, not like she even knew what time it was. She’d have to pester him to buy her a clock to solve this problem. 

Either way, it wasn’t as though she could just go back to sleep now. After the late job they’d had last night, the teen had been looking forward to being able to sleep in today. If she had woken up too early because of nothing, she was gonna be pissed. She’d make sure to give Gin-chan a good kick for her troubles, he hadn’t done anything, but her worrying over him had caused it so it was his fault even if it wasn’t intentional. 

With a yawn, Kagura stretched her arms and rubbed at her still bleary eyes, moving to throw her legs over the side of the shelf her futon sat upon. Even if she slept in a closet, it was better than the street, and even better than that other closet with all the freeloaders hiding in it. Maybe she could extort them for pickled seaweed? Gin-chan didn’t even seem to realize those two still came and squat in their house. Amateur. Just went to show who had the better senses of them, after all!

Laughing haughtily to herself, the yato placed her bare feet on the ground, standing up fully. With one arm, she threw open the closet door, uncaring if Gintoki were still sleeping in the next room. Stepping forward, she paused when she took note of the futon sitting empty in front of her, the covers in complete disarray. 

    “...Huh?”

    For a moment, she stared at the empty bed, mind taking a moment to catch up with reality.  Where was he? There were no sounds from the kitchen or bathroom, and nothing from the television either. In an instant, her mind went to worst case scenarios. He hadn’t left, had he? Why would he have? This wasn’t like back then, during the four devas battle for control. He wasn’t injured, there was no fight waiting for him, as far as she knew.

    What if it was something she didn’t know? What if something had happened? Anxiety coursed through Kagura’s body, a sudden rush of adrenaline hitting her as she looked around wildly. Usually she might have just shrugged it off, searching under his pillow or in other hilariously small places for him, but the sense of unease she had felt earlier stayed in the back of her mind. She couldn’t shrug the feeling that something had happened to her pseudo-father.

    “Gin-chan? Are you hiding somewhere with that Ketsuno Ana figure doing unspeakable things again? Shinpachi broke it for your own good,” she called out, trying to keep her voice light-hearted. Honestly, she didn’t think she’d be able to handle losing another parental figure again. Her idiot father was one thing, but Gin-chan was always there, always stood strong and faced things forward. 

    Receiving no reply, the girl only felt her desperation grow. Rushing forward, she threw open the door to the main sitting room, eyes darting every which way. Another empty room greeted her. Still not giving up, she called once more, “Gin-chan? If you don’t come out now, you owe me five boxes of pickled seaweed...One, two...Okay you owe me eight boxes of pickled seaweed then!” 

    Still nothing, not even a response to her joke. Moving forward, she entered the kitchen, looking around at the bare countertops and stove. Usually Gin-chan would make them breakfast, the elder samurai surprisingly adept at cooking. With each room she entered, her fear only grew. It was unlike Kagura to worry so much, but something was tugging hard at the back of her mind. The unease she had felt, the lack of noise, the lack of Gin-chan. Something was wrong.

    A sudden knock, almost inaudible, from one of the cabinets caught her attention. Head snapping towards the direction, the yato stared hard at the wooden door, trying to look through it without opening it. Walking forward, she crept silently, not wanting to alert whatever may be inside that she was approaching. Gin-chan couldn’t have locked himself in there, could he of? He wouldn’t even be able to fit in there. But what if he was shrunk down by his mad scientist father and was trying to get her attention after having woken up in the middle of the night to make a midnight cake?

    Gritting her teeth, the girl grabbed the handle to the cabinet, throwing it open with a cry, “Gin-chan, you owe me ten pickled seaweed packs now!” 

    Only to be greeted by a pair of familiar yet very different red eyes staring up at her with fear.

    “...Huh? Who are you?”

    Standing before his workplace, Shinpachi shifted the plastic bag in his hand from one to the other, wondering whether he had brought too much cleaning supplies. He had recently done a major cleaning job, finally reaching all of those places that hadn’t seen a human face in what was probably a decade at least. It was amazing just how dusty places could get when left to fester.

    That said, he was looking forward to getting the day started. They had had a late night the previous day, the job taking longer than they had expected it to. Gin-san had seemed somewhat melancholy for a moment then, too. It was why Shinpachi had decided to show up a bit earlier than usual, hoping to help the elder cook a bit. It would also help to learn how to make things given his sister’s...abilities. Shivering at the memory of the “eggs” she had tried to serve him this morning, he took a moment to collect himself.

    With a smile, he opened the door, slipping off his shoes in the entranceway, “Kagura, Gin-san, I’m here!” he greeted, bent down to put his sandals neatly on the side.

    Receiving no reply, he frowned, standing up straight once more. Walking forward a few steps, he tried again, “Kagura? Gin-san?”

    Still nothing.

    Upon entering the main sitting room, he noticed a distinct lack of silver or red hair. The television wasn’t even on, and he knew for a fact Ketsuno Ana had a special weather and astrology report this morning. There was no way Gin-san would miss it, he would skip out on fighting Takasugi to watch his crush. Something had to have happened.

    Seeing as no one was in the sitting room, the glasses-wearing boy placed his bag on one of the couches, making his way into the kitchen. Luckily, a familiar back greeted him. Still wearing her pajamas, Kagura’s distinct red hair was unmistakable, turned away from him and kneeling in front of one of the cabinets. She seemed to be struggling with something, tugging a bit at whatever was inside. A pot stuck, maybe?  
  
“Kagura? What’s wrong?” he asked, coming to stop behind her, still unable to see whatever it was that the other was fighting to pull out.

    Teeth grit, the girl responded, “I’m trying to get him out without hurting him, but he just keeps going further in the back! Hey, don’t you know good kids listen to their elders, huh? As your beautiful older sister, you had better listen to me, brat,” she chastised, tugging on what was revealed to be a bare leg. Judging by the size of the appendage, not to mention the yato’s words, the thing inside was a child. 

    Kneeling down next to her, Shinpachi tried to look past the clearly aggravated amanto, “Kagura...you can’t just force a kid out of a cabinet like that. How did he even get in there anyway? Who is he?” he questioned.

    “I don’t know, I woke up and he was in here. He’s been trying to hit me with a sword too. He looks a lot like Gin-chan though, I think he might be another one of Gin-chan’s illegitimate kids! It’s weird, who would want to have a kid with Gin-chan anyways? Passing on that silver hair should be a crime,” she stated, still tugging gently, for her anyways, on the leg she had a firm grip on.

    Now noticing Gin-san was still missing, the brunette asked, “Oh, right, where is Gin-san anyways?”

    With a shrug, the other responded, “I don’t know. Maybe he went out to play pachinko. Or maybe he’s getting me the twelve packs of pickled seaweed he owes me!” she suggested nonchalantly, having lost all of her previous worry upon laying eyes on the child hiding within the cabinet, “Or he’s just running away from responsibility. He and the boy’s mama could have gone off and done **** and ****!”

    “Who taught you those things?!” Shinpachi exclaimed, “Never mind, I’m sure you would pick that up living here,” he sighed, once again trying to catch a glimpse of the kid hiding in their kitchen. Leaning forward, he narrowed his eyes, trying to get a glance at the other inside the darkness of their cupboard. 

    Pasting on what he hoped was a friendly smile, the male spoke, “Hi there, what are you doing in our cabinet exactly?” he asked, hoping he would be able to coax the other out. Kagura had probably immediately jumped on the poor kid, no wonder they didn’t want to come out.

    “...” he received only silence, a wooden sword poking out and whacking at Kagura’s grip on the other’s leg. 

    “Stop that,” Kagura chastised, grabbing the sword, and pulling. The other had hit her a few times now, luckily it was Gin-chan’s wooden bokuto so no harm was really done to her tougher skin. With one harsh tug, the other was pulled out of the cabinet, falling over the opening along with the sword, now ripped from his grasp and held above his head in the yato’s grasp. Laughing with triumph, the girl stepped on his back to keep him in place, holding it high above her own head, “Ha, ha! It’s my win, punk! Try to beat Kagura-sama again, huh!”

    Now that he could see the child, Shinpachi had to admit the other did look a lot like Gin-san. The other, revealed to be a boy probably around eight or nine, had the same messy silver hair and red eyes as their boss. The only difference was, this kid’s eyes didn’t look like a dead fish, more like a frightened animal if anything. In fact, the kid looked really afraid, the blue yukata he wore falling off of him was clearly too big, revealing how malnourished and bruised he was. 

    Whoever this boy was, he really hoped he wasn’t actually Gin-san’s kid. Gin-san would never let any kid, much less his own, be treated like this one evidently had. Realizing Kagura was definitely scaring the clearly upset boy, Shinpachi waved his arms, trying to get her to get off him, “Kagura, get off him! I don’t think he likes you stepping on him like that.”

    “But Pachi, he’ll just run back in there if I do,” she pointed out, pausing in her gloating to blink at the elder boy.

    Thinking for a moment, the current eldest knelt down beside the child, trying his best to smile in a friendly manner, “Hi there. We don’t want to hurt you or anything, but we can’t have you staying in our cabinet like that. Once our boss comes back, we can try to help you with whatever you need, so please just come sit down in our sitting room,” he tried, hoping he would be able to get through to the other.

    The boy seemed to pause in his struggling, red gaze boring into Shinpachi’s features, as though analyzing him. After a moment, his stomach growled, the child’s eyes growing wide as the sound rang out clearly in the otherwise quiet room. Clearly embarrassed, the boy averted his gaze, looking down at the floor.

    “Are you hungry? I have a sandwich I bought at the store you could have,” the teen offered. He had been planning to give that to Gin-san in hopes of subtly trying to raise his spirits after the other’s odd moment of wistfulness last night, but the starving child before him took priority right now.

    After a moment of receiving no reply, the glasses placed his hands on his knees and stood up, now looking down at the other. Smiling once more, he continued, “I’ll go get it and you can eat it, okay? I bought it this morning so it should still be good,” he explained, going back into the sitting room. Rifling through his bag, he moved aside the rags and spray to pick up the smaller bag inside. A strawberry and cream sandwich lay within it, now pulled out for any to see.

    Making his way back into the kitchen, the boy kneeled down once more, holding the sealed sandwich for the other to see, “Here you go! It’s Gin-san’s favorite, I don’t know if you like this sort of thing, but…”

    The boy looked up at him in awe, red eyes wide as he stared at Shinpachi’s face. Kagura stepped off the child, now relatively sure he wouldn’t try to escape again. Either way, she could catch him again, so it didn’t really matter too much. 

    A few moments later found the three seated in the sitting room, Kagura and Shinpachi seated across from the still silent child. The other’s gaze was glued to the sandwich in his hand, eyes staring in almost a confused amazement at the food in his grasp. Something about the sight was sad to Shinpachi, although his appearance said enough, the way the other was reacting to the food as though it were some sort of foreign mana hammered home the idea the kid was being deprived of food.

    “Go on and eat it, it’s good, I promise,” he spoke gently, not wanting to startle or frighten the boy any more than they already must have.

    Nodding next to him, Kagura placed her feet on the table, “That’s right! You can’t go wasting any food, uh-huh. Gin-san said that sweets are like a gift from the gods, if you don’t eat one you’re disrespecting a blessing from them,” she parroted, Shinpachi blanching next to her. Well, that definitely sounded like something Gin-san would say, after all.

    The boy looked up at the two of them, then back down to the bread, back up, and down once again. He seemed to be unsure about something, or perhaps wary would be the better word to use. It was almost like he didn’t trust he was able to actually eat what was in front of him. 

    “What’s wrong? Are you allergic to something in it or something? Do you come from a planet where you can don’t eat but only survive off oxygen and water?” the yato asked, arm stretched across the back of the couch.

    This seemed to startle the boy, his back now more straight than before, eyes glaring at the girl, yet cautious somehow. Had she said something that had triggered this sort of response from him? Shinpachi tried to think, ignoring the stupid reference in the question. Was it the insinuation he was from another planet, or was it the one that he didn’t eat food? He had heard that in the past people had been more prejudiced against those who looked different from the majority, the sentiment quickly changing with the integration of the amanto, but maybe someone had said something to the boy? Although he looked like Gin-san, it was a far stretch to say their feature were what was considered normal by Japanese standards.

    “Do you not know how to open it, maybe? Here, I’ll open it for you,” Shinpachi offered, trying to relieve some of the tension Kagura had unknowingly brought upon them.

    Taking the boy’s silence as an affirmative, the teen reached forward, picking up the sandwich pack with ease. Brown eyes searched for the pull tab, grasping it gently once he had spotted it, holding it up for the younger across from him to see, “See? You pull this and then…” he trailed off, following his own instructions and pulling, the plastic unraveling around the sandwich in a small ring going around the length of the meal, “...you just pull off the top and bottom!” he finished, proceeding to do so. 

    The sandwich now freed from its protective packaging, the male offered one of the halves to the boy, smile never fading, “And there you go! I used to not know how to do it either, my older sister would always have to open it for me,” he gave a laugh.

    “A pair of glasses should be the one who can find the plastic the easiest, yep,” Kagura threw out, grasping for the other half of the sandwich, “Give me one of the halves, I’m hungry!”

    Annoyed, the taller held the meal above his head, glaring at the girl, “For the last time, I’m not a pair of glasses! And he needs it more than you did, go get something from the kitchen!” he exclaimed, the pair leaping around each other as they fought over the food.

    As expected, the yato managed to overpower the boy, knocking into him and grabbing one of the halves. She stood triumphantly, taking a bite out of the half, “Gin-chan didn’t make any breakfast this morning, I’m starving,” she spoke as she chewed, spitting out some bits of cream as she did.

    Thoroughly disgusted, although he should really be used to this by now, the elder wiped the bits that had flown onto his face, “Well...I guess I can’t get too mad at you then,” he relented. Turning to the boy who had silently been watching them, a weird look on his face the entire time, as though he weren’t really sure what to make of what he was seeing, he pasted a smile on once again, “Here, sorry about this, we can try to go buy more things later,” the teen offered.

    Red eyes moved to land on Kagura for a moment, watching as the girl devoured her piece in seconds. She was clearly still hungry, though at least had the decency not to try and steal the other half being given to the youngest of them. From out of nowhere she seemed to pull out a half-eaten pack of pickled seaweed, now focused on munching on the strips.

    Following his gaze, Shinpachi turned to watched the redhead as well, resisting the urge to sigh at her actions. With a shake of his head, he apologized, “Sorry about Kagura, she has a big appetite. Usually Gin-san would make breakfast for her, but he seems to be out right now.”

   His eyes moving back to the sandwich in front of him, the boy tentatively reached out a small hand, the bunched up sleeves of the obviously too big yukata making him appear even smaller. Suddenly he snatched the half, holding it close to himself. For a moment, he merely stared at Shinpachi, as though waiting for some sort of reaction. Recognizing it would be best not to give too big of one, the brunette merely gave a smile and encouraging nod.

   Once satisfied with whatever it was he was looking for, the boy brought his head down, munching on the sandwich cupped in his hands from the top down. He ate with the food as close to himself as he could bring it, as though afraid someone would steal it from him. The boy seemed to pause for a moment after his first bite, eyes wide with surprise and wonder before going back at it, devouring the food even more ravenously than before.

    There was something upsetting about the sight, Shinpachi’s smile turning simultaneously more real and more sad as the child seemed to finish in moments. He didn’t eat as fast as Kagura, but he could give her a run for his money. Just when was the last time this kid had eaten a full meal? Where had he come from? 

    Trying not to let his sadness show, the young swordsmen sat back, smiling once more. Kagura sat next to him, seeming satisfied for now, both looking at the young boy seated across from them. Actually, what was his name, anyways? They hadn’t even bothered to ask yet. Breaking the silence that had fallen over them, the sixteen year old questioned, “What should we call you? I’m Shinpachi,” he introduced himself, raising a hand to his chest.

    “You can call me your great older sister,” Kagura smugly spoke, wiping at her nose as she did so, “Boss also works, I’m in charge of things around here. You came for a job, yes?” 

    Giving her a look, Shinpachi was quick to correct, “Actually, her name is Kagura. She’s not the boss, Gin-san is. Did you come here looking for him?” he wondered, watching as the other seemed to process their introductions.

    “...Jikininki,” the red-eyed boy offered, throwing out one of the many names people had called him over the few short years of his life. 

    A frown painted the eldest’s features as he heard this, looking the boy over, “That’s…”

    “A beautiful popular maiden? That’s right, I knew you were a smart one, Chigi-chan,” Kagura smirked, raising her nose up haughtily. 

    Eye twitching behind his glasses, the teen next to her went to correct, “No, he didn’t say biki, he said jiki,” then paused, seeming to realize something, “And where did Chigi come from?!”

    Pointing at the boy, the blue-eyed girl responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Well, he’s a small Gin-chan, so he’s a Chibi Gin, a Chigi,” came the explanation.

    Objection came immediately, “No...that sounds more like a curse than a name,” Shinpachi replied, wondering what the kid thought of them now.

    “Fine! Why don’t we just call him Shiro then, since his hair is white?” she relented, seeming to have lost most of her interest now that she knew the boy hadn’t been complimenting her.

    Standing up now, the brunette exclaimed, “What? Is he a dog or something?!” then took a breath, shoulders slumping, “...But still, that’s better than Jikininki. What do you think, is Shiro okay?” he asked, smiling at the boy. It was clear Jikininki wasn’t actually his name, no one would name their child something like that.

    The newly dubbed Shiro gave a shrug, seeming not to care too much about what he was called. It didn’t matter either way, they could call him whatever they wished. 

    “Great! Shiro it is,” Shinpachi smiled, taking a seat once more. Seeming to realize they still didn’t even know where the kid was from or why he was here, the boy went to continue, “By the way, why are you--”

    “Excuse me, is this the Yorozuya?” a voice called out from the front door, accompanied by a knock. Then two, “Excuse me?”, a third, “Excuse me?!” 

    “Ah, one minute,” Shinpachi stood up, apologizing to the boy. Rushing forward to the entranceway and opening the door, “Hello, welcome,” he greeted politely. 

    “Took you long enough,” the person on the other side snorted, looking at him with disdain. She was clearly an older woman, likely closer to Otose’s age than anyone else’s. She wore a simple brown kimono with a light blue obi, greying black hair pulled up in a high bun. 

    Taking off her sandals at the entrance, she took a step inside, sock clad feet following behind Shinpachi’s as he led her towards the sitting room. They would have to deal with Shiro’s situation afterwards, for now it would be best to get this customer’s request done and over with. Hopefully it was a simple one, with Gin-san gone their fighting power was a lot less than it usually was. 

    “Shiro-kun, would you mind sitting next to Kagura? We have another customer,” he spoke apologetically to the child, red eyes watching with muted interest as the two entered the room. 

    The boy seemed to ponder the request for a moment, giving a nod and slipping off the couch once he appeared to deem no loss to honoring it. In fact, he seemed somewhat gladdened by it, his gaze focused on the wooden bokuto still placed next to the yato. Did he want it? Maybe it made him feel safer, Shinpachi couldn’t help but wonder as he sat the elderly woman down where the child had just been. Thinking on it, it was strange Gin-san had left without it, though not entirely unheard of.

    Taking a seat next to Kagura, not wanting to box Shiro in so he couldn’t escape if he felt uncomfortable, the samurai in training gave a pleasant smile, “Our boss is out right now, but we can help you with whatever you need. What job do you need done?” he spoke politely.

    “Actually, I’m the one in charge right now,” the ginger to his right interjected, feet finding their place on the table, “So tell us what you need and how you’re gonna pay us, yep,” once again picking at her nose. He really wished Gin-san hadn’t taught her that disgusting habit, especially for her to do in front of a customer.

    Nonplussed, the woman placed her hands in her lap in front of her, beginning to speak, “Well, if you’re sure. My shop has recently had a series of unexplainable sounds, things have been put back when they weren’t originally, odd noises from the walls and ceiling. The things moving usually happens at night when no one is around, but the sounds are at all hours of the day. It’s driving my customers away and scaring my employees into wanting to quit,” she explained, “I want you to find whatever spirit is causing trouble and exercise it. I’ve heard you’ve done similar jobs before,” a memory of the onsen spirit incident came unwillingly to mind at that. Not that Shinpachi could remember most of what happened anyways.

    A ghost though, huh? It was probably good Gin-san wasn’t here then, given how scared he was of them. Then again, he was also the only one out of them who could see spirits before they revealed themselves. Still, a job was a job. Nodding his head, the teen replied, “We have, we can do it. What sort of shop is it?”

    “And how much’re you gonna pay us?” Kagura interjected, flicking away whatever she had come in contact with in her nose. No matter how many times he watched, the teen could never completely let go of his disgust at the familiar action.

    A business card was presented before the three, placed on the table closer to their side, “It’s a conjoined store, so there are actually two. One is a clothing store, the other a cafe. If you manage to drive out the ghosts causing a problem in both of them, I’ll let you have anything you want from either for three days, within reason,” she offered.

    The card was fairly well made, surprisingly cute with the pastel characters and coloring making it up. Picking up the card in shock, Shinpachi looked up at the woman, unable to hold back his exclamation, “S*nrio?!”

    The woman gave a nod, seeming surprised, “You know of it? My husband became obsessed with the characters and insisted we open up a cafe themed around it. The clothing store is at least more normal,” she sighed, placing her hand to her cheek and shaking her head at the thought. Really, a grown man. He seemed to love them more than he cared for her!

    “Anything?” the yato repeated, seeming to become excited, “We’ll take it! Have the kitchen ready for me, granny,” she grinned, standing up enthusiastically. 

    “We can get Shiro some better fitting clothes and more food, too,” the brunette noted with  a smile, also agreeing to take the job.

    Pleased, the women stood, giving them a bow, “Then, you can find the address on the card. Please come as quickly as you can,” she requested, quickly making her way back to her shoes. In a moment, she had slipped back out the door.

    Shinpachi seemed to suddenly realize he had forgotten to serve tea or crackers, having been too caught up in the moment, “Ah, I forgot...oh well, at least we managed to solve two of our problems, huh, Shiro?” he smiled down at the boy.

    He stopped upon noting the other’s state. The child was shaking, hands grasping for something at his side that wasn’t there. He was looking wildly around him, as though alert for something, eyes staring unseeingly at the seemingly normal room. Scrambling forward, he jumped over Kagura before the girl could react, grabbing the wooden bokuto and holding it close to his chest with both hands, curling in on himself yet simultaneously alert for some perceived danger.

    “Hey!” the girl exclaimed, though she made no move to try to get the sword back. Taking note of the child’s state as well, she sat back once more, “What’s wrong? You can tell your big sis, yep.”

    “Shiro…?” the teen repeated with a frown, now kneeling down to be closer to eye level with the boy, “Are you alright?”

    “...G-Ghosts…” he shook with fear, eyes wide. Humans were one thing, you could fight them, kill them, chase them off with a sword. Ghosts, though, were another story. No amount of waving a blade around or glaring at them would scare them off. They were already dead, they had no reason to be afraid. There were many things the boy feared; starvation, pain, adults, even humans in general, but most of all he feared ghosts. When faced with a ghost, no matter what he did, he couldn’t fight them. A corpse was nothing, an empty shell that could no longer move or inflict pain, but a ghost… 

    A ghost could kill you while you couldn’t even touch them.

    Realizing the child obviously shared, or inherited if you asked Kagura, Gintoki’s fear of spirits, Shinpachi was quick to throw up another smile. His voice light, he spoke, “It’s okay if you don’t want to come, Shiro-kun. Kagura and I can handle it well enough alone,” he offered, not wanting to make the child any more uncomfortable than he had to be.

    “Yep! A spirit can’t do anything against my fists!” the yato exclaimed, holding up one arm for good measure, a grin on her face. Expression softening a bit, she continued, seeming to have finally grasped the child’s situation, “So don’t worry, your strong big sister will take care of it without a worry!”

    For a moment, the child remained silent, seeming to think over their words. At the very least, he had stopped shaking, fear dissipating as they spoke. After a moment, he shook his head, determined red eyes boring into Shinpachi’s own brown ones silently. 

    Reading his answer from his expression, Kagura grinned, standing up, “I knew my apprentice would be able to handle this! Let’s go!” already moving to rush out the door.

    “Wait a minute!” Shinpachi called after her, letting out a sigh once she had disappeared from sight. Turning to the boy, he gave a smile, holding out his hand for the child to take, “Shall we go?”

    For a moment, the messy-haired boy stared at the extended hand silently. Thinking the boy wasn’t comfortable with the possibility of their hands touching, the teen continued, “It’s alright if you don’t want to hold hands,” pulling it back to his side.

    Turning, he moved to walk out, stopping when he felt a smaller hand wrap around his own. With a look back, he found the child looking down at the ground and avoiding his gaze, hand in his, the other holding the bokuto he had evidently decided to claim as his own for now.

    Unable to hold back a wide grin at the sight, Shinpachi closed his hand around the other’s in his grasp, pulling the child along gently as he went.

    “Let’s go!”


	2. There's Something New to be Found in Every Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Job time, the trio get some clothes, some food, make plans, and run into some familiar faces.

    “I still don’t understand how you were able to get dressed so quickly,” Shinpachi looked to his companion walking a bit ahead of him, a hint of resignation to his tone.

    Turning around as she continued to walk, Kagura replied easily, “I told you, Shinpachi. A lady can get dressed as quickly as she needs to, don’t believe everything you read in your manga, cherryboy!” umbrella held high, shielding sensitive skin from the harsh sunlight pounding down on them.

    Trying to reign in his annoyance, the teen exclaimed, “T-There’s nothing wrong with saving myself for Otsu-chan! It’s just a part of being a loyal fan, even if we never get together, I’ll be dedicated to her,” placing a hand against his chest as he spoke seriously.

    The newly dubbed Shiro watched the pair from the teen’s side, trying to figure out what they were talking about. He didn’t seem to understand most of what was said, a small frown upon his face. Big maroon eyes turned back from staring at the dark-haired male’s face to watch the girl walking in front of him. He had wanted to walk behind the two, not trusting either enough just yet to have them at his back, but had ended up next to the bland looking one.

    Back at the house they had been at, which was apparently on top of a restaurant, a large dog had suddenly burst out of the closet while the two boys had waited a moment for their other companion to finish getting ready. It had only been Shinpachi’s sudden realization that the girl had still been wearing her pajamas that had initially stopped them, the aforementioned redhead not having realized it herself. The brunette had been attempting to talk to their new charge again, receiving a silent stare in return when it had happened.

    “Sadaharu?!” he stood up, wondering what had caused the dog to become so excitable. He had thought their pet had been out and about on his own, as he often was, or just sleeping in. It was shocking, for sure, to have the large pooch throw aside the doors and stop in front of them, wagging his tail and barking.

    Throwing a side glance to the child at his side, he worried as the other’s eyes widened and he sat up further on the couch, watching the animal closely. Had the boy ever seen a dog before? Just how sheltered was this kid, if sheltered was the right word to use? Though, given how large Sadaharu was, even people familiar with dogs would take a step back. At least he had run back to the cupboard again, it would be difficult to get him back out again.

    With a smile, the teen moved to rectify the situation, presenting the pet to the other, “It’s okay, Shiro-kun. This is our dog, Sadaharu. He gets along really well with Kagura,” choosing to leave out the other’s biting habit. He didn’t want to scare Shiro, hopefully the dog wouldn’t try to make a move and attack him.

    Tilting his head, the pet’s two beady black eyes seemed to stare into the boy, making him visibly uneasy. In response, he looked back in the other’s eyes, the two seemingly searching each other for something. Suddenly, Sadaharu gave a bark and wagged his tail, rushing forward to engulf the child’s head in his mouth, as he often did with Gintoki.

    Upon realizing this, Shinpachi rushed forward, grabbing at Sadaharu and trying to hold him back, “Sadaharu, no! Don’t bite him!” turning to the kid who had flinched back, he tried to smile, “S-Sorry about that, he does that sometimes, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you,” he offered weakly.

    “What’s going on in here, huh?” a fully-dressed Kagura asked, her hands on her hips as she took in the scene playing out before her, “Are you bullying Sadaharu, Shinpachi?” totally misinterpreting the situation.

    Spluttering, the boy denied, “No! He just suddenly burst out of nowhere and was going to attack Shiro-kun,” still struggling to keep the dog down.

    The girl took a moment to glance at the wary child, turning back to the dog with a stern expression, “Sadaharu! Don’t attack Shiro-chan like that! He’s not T*mioka G*yuu, he’s just a little boy, huh?” causing the dog to stop wagging his tail and sit down, head bent down as he accepted the scolding.

    They had ended up letting the dog out, making sure to keep the two white-haired ones apart before heading out themselves. Shinpachi and initially offered his hand to the other, but the boy had merely stared at it for a moment before looking down at the ground. Not offended, the brunette merely gave a small sad smile and took his hand back, allowing the kid to keep both hands on his sword and while keeping pace with him.

    Luckily, Otose hadn’t been at their door demanding rent today. The glasses wasn’t very sure what he would have done if she was, with Gin-san missing in action and a child almost identical to him tagging along with them. It wasn’t like they had any money to give her anyways at the moment, after last night’s job falling through and this one resulting in free things, there wasn’t much actual currency to be found. Still, this would be good. They could get Shiro-kun better fitting clothing and some more food, the child doing his best not to trip over the large blue yukata falling at his feet.

    It was kind of cute, actually. Watching the boy, Shinpachi couldn’t help himself from wondering a bit. What had Gin-san been like as a child? There was very little they knew about the other’s past, aside from his friendship with Katsura and Takasugi and that he fought during the Jouishishi wars, he mostly kept to himself. Not that they really had the right to be prying about it, this wasn’t some sort of Shounen Jump manga where the characters would tell their backstories to each other like it was nothing.

    “Shiro-chan, have you ever had pickled seaweed?” still facing them, the yato questioned the youngest of them, not caring as people around them were forced to move out of her way, “It’s much better than that sugar stuff! You don’t want to become a lazy sugar-addicted otaku like your father, yes?”

    The white-haired boy gave her a slightly confused look, continuing to walk along silently. The teen beside him resisted the urge to sigh, shaking his head once more, “Kagura, like I said, we don’t even know if Gin-san is really his father or not…” knowing his words wouldn’t get through to her.

    As expected, she ignored the brunette, holding out an opened pack of her favorite snack to the boy, “Here, try some! And then after we can get Gin-chan to buy us more,” making her ulterior motive clear now.

    “So you were just trying to get him to like it so you could get Gin-san to buy more?!” the tallest of the three exclaimed, stopping when he noticed the child actually reach forward and grab the snack.

    For a moment, he looked at the pieces, as if trying to figure out what they were. Soon enough, a small hand reached up, grabbing a piece from the pack, looking down at it in his grasp. As he had earlier with the sandwich, Shiro seemed unsure if he should eat it, eyes boring into the piece of seaweed he held in his small hand.

    Evidently realizing this, Kagura gave a grin, pulling a piece out and crunching down on it, “See? It’s good, give it a try, huh?” trying to encourage the boy.

    The child watched her for a moment, eyes searching for some sort of something Shinpachi couldn’t say he was sure of. After a moment, he appeared to be satisfied by something, putting the piece up to his mouth and biting down on hit. Almost immediately he made a face, yet made no move to remove the food, forcing his way through the snack.

    Not wanting the kid to make himself eat something he didn’t like, Shinpachi waved his hands, “Shiro-kun, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it, it’s okay! We’re going to go get food anyways…”

    “He just doesn’t want to waste food, Shinpachi! It’s okay, Shiro-chan, with time you’ll come to appreciate the superior taste of pickled seaweed, yep,” she assured the boy, then paused, seeming to have just noticed his struggles with walking.

    With a smile, she stopped, bending down and baring her back for the other. The two boys stopped in front of her, both confused. The glasses was the one to speak up, questioning, “Uh, Kagura, what are you doing?”

    “It’ll be faster this way, huh? Come on up, Shiro-chan! Your amazing big sister will show off her strength to you,” she explained, one hand still holding the umbrella as the other was presented for the child to hook his leg on.

    Surprised, the boy took a second to collect himself before moving forward, resting himself on her back. The least he could do was not take more time away from whatever it was they were doing, they had been nice enough so far, and he was pretty sure he could take on the loud guy if it came down to it. Besides, it was kind of...something he had always wanted to experience. Being held, that was. He had seen kids in the towns being carried now and then by their parents, fearing disdainful eyes watching him whenever he wandered in.

    Surely this once was okay, wasn’t it?

    While he was still distrusting, it was more of a sense of wariness than outright distrust at this point. The two had been fairly kind to him, saving him from that big animal, offering him safe food, and even letting him come with them. While he wouldn’t sleep in the same room as them if given the chance, he was at least willing to give them a small chance. Still, he would have to be careful in case they suddenly turned on him. This was the first time anyone had been kind to him, he wasn’t quite sure how to take it, but he didn’t dislike it.

    The three walked for a while, the elder pair smiling while the boy rested his head against the girl’s back, watching buildings and people pass by. It was odd to him, all the amanto walking around easily, mingling among normal humans. Not that he minded them too much, on the battlefield humans and amanto were the same when dead. When alive, humans tended to attack him more than amanto would. Still, a part of him couldn’t help but hate them a bit. Everyone did, or so he thought, but no one seemed to be bothered by the foreigners among them. It was odd, just what sort of place was he in?

    Before long, the trio came upon a large building, two connected shops before them. One was a cafe, with long windows and blue coloring. Cartoon characters smiled down at them from the sign, a bunny and a kitten with faces surrounding the cafe’s name. The other building was decidedly more average looking, with mannequins displayed outside it, various clothing and goods visible from the outside.

    “Oh, you’re here,” a voice called out from inside, the woman who had come to visit them earlier sitting behind the counter of the clothing store. The three made their way over, Kagura still holding Shiro, stopping before the woman. She assessed them for a moment, giving a nod, “Like I said, strange things have been going on here, even during the day. Take the time to explore, but do not bother any customers,” her tone leaving no room for argument.

    “We’ll be careful,” Shinpachi promised as the yato and child had already disappeared down the aisles, bowing to the owner respectfully. He chased after the pair, calling after for them to stop.

    The woman watched for a moment, wondering if she had chosen well. As the bell rang signaling another customer, she turned to smile, calling out, “Welcome to Fuk-u!”

    Picking Shiro off of her back and holding him up, Kagura asked the boy, “Which one of these do you like, huh, Shiro-chan?”

    Finally having caught up, the brunette took a moment to catch his breath before asking, “Why are you showing him wetsuits, Kagura?” taking in the wall of bathing suits before them.

    In response, the girl shook her head, “Pachi-kun, don’t you know? This is as close to Yuma-kun’s outfit as we can get. How else can we get him to remember the world he’s from and have him help us if we don’t give him similar clothes, huh? Do you even use your brain?” speaking as though he were the idiot of them.

    “Wait, who is this ‘Yuma’? You do know manga aren’t real, right?” choosing to ignore the obvious insult for now.

    Turning her nose up at him, she challenged, “What would you get him then, huh?”

    As luck would have it, the boy’s clothes were behind them. Shifting through them, Shinpachi turned to the child, now returned to the floor, asking, “What color do you want to wear, Shiro-kun?”

    For his part, Shiro seemed nonplussed by all this, clothing style not mattering too much to him. At the question, he merely gave a shrug, pinching at the clothing he was wearing as though in answer. Blue it was, then.

    It didn’t take long for the teen to find a plain simple yukata, choosing a size on the smaller end given the boy’s stature. He didn’t know how big the other was, but the white-haired child seemed to be on the smaller side compared to most children. Speaking of, did they even know how old he was?

    “How’s this, Shiro-kun?” he asked, holding it up for the boy to assess. The other looked it over quickly before giving a shrug, taking it easily enough. Pleased he had won, Shinpachi shuffled the boy into the changing room with a pair of shoes before turning to Kagura with a smug grin…

    ...Only to find her walking away, inspecting different parts of the wall.

    “What are you doing?” he asked, watching her tap on one before pressing her ear to it again. Behind her, a mother shuffled her child along worriedly, the little girl pointing at the yato pressed against the wall questioningly.

    Blue eyes met brown, the shorter responding easily, “I’m doing our job, we did come here for that, right?” keeping her tone light.

    “T-That’s true,” the glasses replied, a bit put-off for being out-serioused for the first time by the young amanto. Still, he hadn’t been wrong to find clothes for their charge, the boy was tripping over himself while they walked faster than him.

    “Oh, Shin-chan?” a familiar voice called, the brunette turning around as Kagura wandered off down the wall, following whatever it was she was tracking.

    Eyes widening, the boy couldn’t help but exclaimed, “Eh? Big sister? What are you doing here?!” not having expected to see the other at this store of all places.

    Raising a hand to cover her laugh, Otae replied, “I remembered I had to buy a replacement for something. I bought it a while ago at this store and thought I could find it again,” putting her hand back down to clutch at her small purse in front of her.

    “Replacement? Did something break?” Shinpachi asked, wondering what she could be looking for. He couldn’t recall anything at the dojo needing to be replaced, especially something they had had for a while.

    The elder began to explain, “Well, back when--” then stopped herself noticing something, “Oh? Who’s this?” flashing a smile at the figure who had come to join them, standing next to Shinpachi.   

    Shiro stood, the much better fitting yukata and small straw sandals on his feet, appearing much more properly clothed than before. It was still a bit big on the child, but at least he could walk, fitting much better than the previous one he had swam through.

    “Oh! This is Shiro-kun, he showed up at the Yorozuya earlier and we’ve been taking care of him,” he explained, keeping the details vague. Hell, he barely even knew the details, there wasn’t much he _could_ explain.

    Bending down to be closer to eye-level with the kid, Otae smiled amicably, “Is that so? Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Shiro-kun,” the said boy watching her warily a bit as he half-hid behind her younger brother.

    “He’s a bit shy,” the teen offered as an apology, not faulting the skittish boy for being afraid of a new stranger.

    She nodded in understanding, standing back up, smile never leaving her face. Now addressing her brother, she queried, “What are you doing here? I think I saw Kagura-chan earlier near one of the vents,” raising a hand to cup her cheek as she spoke.

    Now that was a question he could answer. Talking with his hands, the boy explained, “The owner asked us to investigate strange things happening, she said we could have free food and things if we did,” gesturing to the new clothes Shiro wore.

    “Free...you say?” Otae asked with a smile, getting closer, “Shin-chan...you wouldn’t mind helping out your older sister, would you?” tone threatening, one hand coming to grasp at his shoulder.

    Nervously, he gave a nod, “O-Of course, sister! What do you need? We can go get it now,” hands moving faster as he tried to placate her.

    Content with his acceptance, she stepped back, looking around the store, “Well, it’s an umbrella with...oh, there it is!” walking down the aisle a bit to where a number of umbrellas were stacked up. With a smile, she reached forward, grasping at the handle of a yellow one painted with childish pink bunny heads painted on it.

    At the same moment, another hand reached forward, grasping for the same one. Both girls clutched onto it, looking up at each other,. Recognizing who was in front of her, Otae let her threatening aura increase, grip strong as she spoke with a light voice, “Oh, Sacchan! I didn’t know you were interested in this sort of thing,” a thinly veiled insult hidden within her words.

    “Of course, I saw Gin-san using this a while ago and have been looking all over for it. I have to buy it for our couple umbrella theme,” the other, revealed to be the purple-haired ninja, responded, eyes challenging the younger.

    “I don’t think Gin-san would be interested in something like that,” she countered, tugging harshly at the umbrella, “Why don’t you go buy one of those N*ruto ones over there, I think it fits you just as well,” a cat fight beginning to brew.

    Watching them go back and forth, Shinpachi spoke up, pointing at the umbrellas, “Er, why don’t you each just take one? There’s more than one…”

    “This is a matter of pride, Shin-chan. Don’t get in the way,” Otae countered, her frightening smile turning to him. Behind him, Shiro tensed up, clutching at his pant leg.

    Sacchan seemed to notice this, letting go of the umbrella the pair had been fighting and coming over to where the two boys stood. Her opponent fell over with the umbrella behind her, the others too distracted by her approach to react.

    Eyes staring at the child, she bent down a bit to get a better look at him, the kid staring up at her warily. Blinking, her eyes lit up after a moment, “It worked! Mine and Gin-san’s son is finally here...I knew that the charms that woman sold me weren’t garbage,” practically squealing with joy at the thought.

    “Oh, that’s right,” coming up with a smile, Otae shoved aside Saachan into a stack of boxes, never taking her eyes off the boys in front of her, “Where is Gin-san anyway, Shin-chan?”

    Sweating once again, he spoke shakily, “T-That is, well, we don’t really know...he wasn’t there when Kagura woke up this morning,” knowing how aggravated his sibling already was. It would not do him any good to get on her bad side.

    Hand raising to her lips as she thought, the pony-tail wearing girl frowned, “That’s odd, but then again, he could just be out playing pachinko or drinking,” letting her worry melt away into a more reassuring smile, “Still, let me know if you find that lazy bum. He can’t just run off and leave all the jobs to you two kids,” now raising in fist in mock threat.

    “O-Of course, big sister,” he nodded, hoping to placate her. Shiro seemed to only become more distressed as her mood changes, hands still clutching to the elder’s pants. Noticing this, the teen bowed to his sister, hoping to get away, “We have to get back to our job, but I’ll see you later at home.”

    “W-Wait, what are you doing? Miss?” the voice of one of the employees spoke up, the man trying to grab Kagura as she stood with her fist raised towards the wall.

    With a shout, she punched straight through, ignoring the worker and breaking a whole through the plaster. Everyone stopped to stare at the damage, the yato grabbing at something before relaxing her stance. Before anyone could move, she turned around with a smile, rushing over to where the siblings and Shiro stood.

    “Shinpachi! I got the ghost! Oh, hi big sis,” she greeted, holding her still-clenched fist at her side.

    “Er, Kagura, did you just…” the younger brother began, eye twitching as he looked back at the damage, then to the angry worker coming their way, and finally at the still smiling girl.

    Stomping over to them, the man exclaimed, “What are you doing to our store? I’m going to have to ask you to leave!” trying to make a grab for the girl, who merely dodged him in return. Realizing she was a lost cause, he reached for Shinpachi and Shiro instread, managing to grab the younger by the collar and attempting to lift him up.

    For his part, Shiro did not like suddenly being grabbed. The boy kicked out, trying to escape, waving the wooden sword with arms too short to actually hit anything other than the hand holding him. Flinching a bit at the hits, the man chastised, “Hey, stop that, kid!”

    “Don’t you dare touch Shiro-chan!” Kagura cried out, kicking the man away from the boy,  moving quickly to grab him in her own free hand. She gently placed the surprised boy down, turning to the fallen worker, “We got permission from your boss lady to do whatever we can to exorcise the ghosts here, uh-huh! Don’t get in our way!”

    The boy watched her with wide eyes, shocked to have been saved by someone. This was the first time this sort of thing had ever happened for as long as he could remember, the child unsure of how to react in this situation. At the very least, it was a tilt in the direction of trusting these two teenagers.

    “Are you okay?” Otae asked, kneeling down beside the boy. He whipped his head around, large maroon eyes meeting kindly brown. The boy gave a slight nod after a moment, not wanting her to just continue to stare at him. She smiled at the action, taking a second to really look at him, “You know, you really do look a lot like Gin-san…”

    Getting back on task, Shinpachi turned to the redhead, a question in his gaze, “Why exactly did you punch the wall, Kagura?” while he would usually scold her, he couldn’t find it in himself to do so after she had saved Shiro like that.

    “Oh, right,” she brightened, turning back to the other three and holding her hand out, “I found the ghost!” opening up her palm slowly.

    Shiro took a step back in fear, not wanting to see any sort of ghost, only to stop when the thing was clearly visible. It was…

    “...Mice?”

    They were sitting in her palm, two small mic wearing odd uniforms reminiscent of a mix between a European medieval knight’s attire and space suit out of an old sci-fi movie. The larger of the two let out a squeak, high-pitched voice speaking up, “We are the Minezu! A race of warriors from far across the galaxy,” he explained, one little paw going to his chest, “We are not _just_ mice!”

    “Why are you terrorizing this store?” Otae asked, kneeling down to be face to face with the tiny creatures.

    “T-That’s because…” the larger began, trailing off nervously.

    The smaller took over, his voice surprisingly deeper than the others, “Our princess has become infatuated with a being here on earth. We’ve been searching for her after seeing a sign displaying her face,” speaking more amicably than the other had been.

    “A sign?” Shinpachi repeated, thinking back to any of the signs they had seen around the area. Thinking back to outside, he seemed to realize it suddenly, looking down at the mice in disbelief, “Y-You don’t mean Hello K*tty, do you?”

    Standing up on two legs, the larger nodded his whole body, “That is her! It’s been two weeks since we entered this labyrinth and we cannot seem to find her...we cannot leave until we return with her for our princess,” he explained.

    “Is your princess an idiot, huh? Hello K*tty is---” Kagura began, stopping only when Shinpachi slapped a hand over her mouth, smiling nervously down at the two.

    Voice shaking a bit, he tried to rectify the situation, “D-Don’t worry, we can help you find her and then you can leave here,” ignoring the confused look the yato shot him. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “We can just give them some merchandise with her on it and send them off. They’ll never leave if we tell them she’s just a character.”

    “....” Shiro had wandered off down the aisle at those words, searching each side as he went up and down every one. One of the employees went to go ask him if he were lost when the one from earlier grabbed at her sleeve, shaking his head, warning her away from him.

    Finally finding what he was looking for, the boy grabbed it off the shelf, turning back to where he came from. He didn’t really know what a “Hello K*tty” was, but this looked like a little girl cat person, it was probably close enough.

    Returning back to the still bickering group, he held out the item to the mice in the young girl’s hand silently. Otae was the first to notice him, turning with a smile, “Oh? What’s this, Shiro-kun?”

    “T-That’s her!” the larger mouse cried as he placed the plush toy in Kagura’s hand next to them. The mouse turned from her to the boy, repeating the process a few times before bowing, “Thank you very much, young warrior! We won’t forget your helpful kindness!”

    Shinpachi watched in mild disbelief, resisting the urge to shout, “...That’s it? You just wanted a plush? You didn’t find one the entire time you were here?” it had taken Shiro a whole of five minutes to find one. Sure, mice were small, but come on.

    The smaller of the pair pulled out a button, also bowing to the boy, “Thank you for your help, we’ll be going then. We’re sorry for all the trouble,” disappearing in a flash of light along with the stuffed animal.

    The four continued to stare, some not sure if they had completely processed everything that had just happened, one wondering if she could get free food now, the last entirely lost but glad he had managed to do something to solve the situation. It had been almost too easy, really. Still, a job done was a job done.

     A while later found the four sitting in a booth at the cafe, each with a menu in front of them and a glass of water. After explaining the situation to the owner, she had sighed at the wall but waved them off, allowing them to still eat and keep the clothes they had taken. That said, rather than a week, it was only today they could eat for free. Still, a day or a week, either way they would be sure to use the privilege to its fullest degree.

    Otae and Kagura said on one side, Shiro and Shinpachi across from them, with Shiro sitting in the aisle, the teen not wanting to trap the younger in the booth in case he felt trapped. Turning to the boy with a smile, he questioned, “Do you know what you want, Shiro-kun?”

    The child was staring down blankly at the menu, maroon eyes gazing over the few pictures on the cover, making no move to open it. Getting no reply in response, he frowned, looking at his own menu trying to figure out what was wrong. Was there nothing he liked here? Maybe nothing he recognized, given how he didn’t recognize the sandwich earlier?

    “Could it be you don’t know how to read?” Otae asked not unkindly, trying to meet the younger’s gaze with non-judgemental eyes.

    Averting his gaze, the boy gave a nod, a small frown upon his face. He wasn’t too keen on admitting something like this, even if it was uncommon for people in his situation to be able to know this sort of thing. It wasn’t like he went to school or anything, how could he possibly?

    “In that case, I’ll read it for you, yep!” Kagura exclaimed, holding the menu up proudly. Scanning the words written, she read each item out to him, menus one of the first things she had learnt how to read upon coming to Japan, “There’s curry, omelette rice, coffee, spaghetti, strawberry cake, chocolate cake, a chocolate parfait, a strawberry parfait, sandwiches…”

    Shiro merely stared blankly, recognizing none but the sandwich. He was used to more simple foods, the sandwich from this morning was one of the more “complex” dishes he could ever remember having. Maybe one of them could choose for him? The bland one seemed to have good taste. Turning to the male, he tugged on his sleeve, looking into his eyes and trying to convey the message he wanted to get through.

    For his part, Shinpachi turned at the tug, their eyes meeting, a small staring contest breaking out. Unsure what the boy wanted, he questioned a bit uneasily, “Er...What’s wrong, Shiro-kun?”

    Otae seemed to understand, at the least, once again coming in to save the child from his inability to communicate well, “I think he wants you to choose for him, Shin-chan,” she giggled a bit, already having her order in mind.

    Blinking in realization, the teen turned back to the messy-haired child questioningly, “Is that what you want?”

    The other gave a small nod, turning back to look at the glass of water with fascination. He seemed enraptured by it, especially the red straw they had given him along with it. Had he never even seen a glass of water with a straw before? There was something strange about how ignorant the child was, something strange and something sad.

    With a push of a button, their waiter came up, wearing a navy blue apron with one of the company’s characters printed on it with a background design in white. With a smile, he greeted them, asking, “May I take your order?”

    “I’ll have the chocolate cake,” the eldest at the table ordered with a smile, folding up her menu and handing it back to the other.

    Pointing to what she wanted, Kagura spoke loudly, “I want the curry, and the spaghetti, actually, can I have one of everything,” phrasing it more of a statement than as a question.

    Their orders down, the man turned to the other two, Shinpachi unable to help but remember how he had met Gin-san. That’s right, he had been a waiter back then too, hadn’t he? It was funny, the way things worked out. Back then, he never would have imagined he would end up working under the weird samurai, befriending a yato, meeting all the people he had, and going on all the crazy adventures they had been on. Life had a strange way of working like that, one never knew how much impact a person they had just met would have on their life.

    “Sir? Are you listening? Please stop having an introspective monologue and order,” the waiter spoke with a smile, a slight threat to his tone. Looking around, the full tables made the reason for that clear enough.

    Apologizing, the teen replied, “A-Ah, sorry! Uhm, I’ll have the sandwich...he’ll have,” he paused, gesturing to the child next to him as he scanned the menu once more. What would be good? Shiro had liked the strawberry and cream sandwich this morning, that meant anything with strawberry and cream were a safe bet, at least. If he had the same taste as Gin-san, then…

    A few minutes later found the four with their previously ordered meals before them, the table full with how much Kagura had asked for. As the girl scarfed down her food, Otae eating her cake in a more refined manner, Shinpachi turned to his own order. A simple sandwich, nothing too out of the ordinary. Eyes sliding to the side, he couldn’t keep a smile off his face as he watched Shiro stare in awe at the strawberry parfait in front of him. The boy seemed unsure of where to begin eating the dessert, not even picking up the spoon that had been placed beside him.

    Feeling eyes on him, the child turned to look at the other, gaze questioning. Smile remaining, the teen gestured for the other to go ahead, pointing to the spoon next to him. The red-eyed male followed his directions, picking up the spoon with wide eyes. Another encouraging movement had him slowly reaching out, utensil catching a bit of whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

    Bringing the food to his mouth, the boy’s eyes widened at the taste, a repeat of earlier in the day when he had tried the food Shinpachi had given him. For a moment he merely stared at the parfait in wonder, quickly digging in with gusto once his brain caught up to what he had just experienced. Every bite seemed more enjoyable than the last, eating in a way reminiscent to Gintoki’s neverending appreciation for sweets.

    “Careful not to eat too fast,” the brunette as his side warned, not wanting the child to make himself sick. Giving him sugar alone when it was clear he didn’t eat it very much if at all could cause stomach problems, hopefully he would be fine. Kids were more resilient about that sort of thing, weren’t they?

    Her cake mostly finished, the elder of the Shimura siblings put her fork down, hands falling to her lap, “What are you three planning to do now that your job is done?” she asked, unable to keep a smile from her face at the young boy’s joy across from her. This was the first emotion outside of fear she had seen from him, it was nice, he really was a cute kid, even with the natural perm.

    “I didn’t really think of anything…” Shinpachi lowered his hand, sandwich half brought up to his mouth. Looking up at the ceiling, he thought to himself for some sort of idea. What could they do now? Maybe give Shiro a tour of Kabuki-cho? Try to find out more answers? Though, he didn’t even know where they could possibly start with that.

    Speaking with food still in her mouth, Kagura broke in, “Why don’t we bring him to Yoshiwara?” her words hard to understood through the chewing.

    Holding back his disgust for the second time today, the teen replied, “I don’t know, Gin-san didn’t even want us to go there, I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring a,” right, they didn’t know his age, “younger kid there,” trying to get through with logic.

    The yato paused to swallow before responding, “No, I mean we can bring him to meet Tsukki and Seita! Maybe he could become friends with him, huh?” she clarified, smiling at the boy now almost done with his treat.

    “Oh, that’s a good idea!” the brunette replied with barely hidden disbelief, nodding in agreement to the plan. The two turned to the now-finished boy, the teen being the one to ask first, “How does that sound, Shiro-kun? Do you want to meet someone your age and our friend? They’re both nice, I promise.”

    “You could become friends with him, yep!” the redhead exclaimed encouragingly, “And Tsukki too!” next to her, Otae also gave a nod of agreement.

    The boy looked from one to the other, thoughts conflicted. While he was starting to trust these two, he wasn’t sure about anyone new. Then again, this other girl sitting across from him hadn’t really done anything to attack him either. If he could begin to trust them, maybe he could trust their friends too. Besides, he had never gotten to talk to someone his age. Maybe he really could make a friend.

    He gave a small nod of agreement, still holding onto the spoon in his right hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering where Sacchan went, she took the chance to grab the umbrella while Otae was distracted. 
> 
> That said, this chapter really fought with me for some reason. I'm excited for next chapter though, a certain character will make an appearance that I'm looking forward to! I originally planned to write this on Wednesday, but my will to write just wasn't having it. I'll do my best to update once a week for you all, though I might miss out sometimes between this and Hyakkimaru. By the way, Miffy > Hello Kitty.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for reading/kudos/subscribing/bookmarking/commenting! And to those who went to read my Dororo fic, a double thank you! 
> 
> Here's my question for this chapter: What are you watching this season?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> I've always wanted to read/write a fic like this, some are similar but I personally don't know of any exactly done this way so I really wanted to write this. I've had this idea since I was in high school (which is quite a while...) and I'm finally getting it out here! I'll try to update once a week, I'm also working on a Dororo fic simultaneously. I'm not sure how long this will be, but I am planning on having a lot more interactions with "Shiro". 
> 
> That said, any comments/kudos/subscriptions/bookmarks are very appreciated! <3 Next chapter should be up by next Wednesday if nothing comes up.


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